Voices from the "Jungle"

Stories from the Calais Refugee Camp

Paper $21.00ISBN: 9780745399683
Published
April 2017
For Sale in All Americas and the Caribbean except Canada

Cloth $99.00ISBN: 9780745399706
Published
June 2017
For Sale in All Americas and the Caribbean except Canada

Often called the Calais Jungle, the refugee camp in Northern France epitomises for many the suffering, uncertainty, and violence that characterizes the lives of many refugees in Europe today. Migrants from ravaged countries, such as Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Eritrea, arrive by the hundreds every day hoping for sanctuary from their war-torn homelands and a chance to settle in Europe. Going beyond superficial media reports, Voices from the “Jungle” gives voice to the unique individuals living in the camp—people who have made the difficult journey from devastated countries simply looking for peace.

In this moving collection of individual testimonies, Calais refugees speak directly in powerful and vivid stories, offering their memories up with stunning honesty. They tell of their childhood dreams and struggles for education; the genocides, wars, and persecution that drove them from home; the simultaneous terror and strength that filled their extraordinary journeys; the realities of living in the Calais refugee camp; and their deepest hopes for the future.

Through their stories, these refugees paint a picture of a different kind of Jungle—a powerful sense of community that has grown despite evictions and attacks and a solidarity that crosses national and religious boundaries. Interspersed with photos taken by the camp's inhabitants, taught by award-winning photographers Gideon Mendel and Crispin Hughes, original artwork by inhabitants, and powerful poems, Voices from the “Jungle” must be read by anyone seeking to understand the human consequences of our current world crisis.

Introduction Chapter 1 Home Chapter 2 Journeys Chapter 3 Arriving, exploring and settling in Chapter 4 Living in and leaving the ‘Jungle’: Connecting, longing and trying to leave Chapter 5 Life after the ‘Jungle’ Conclusion

Review Quotes

Julie Christie

"These first-hand accounts of the suffering endured by refugees fleeing unmitigated horror in their homelands paints a far more vivid picture than anything we read in the press or see on television. If you want to understand fully the extent of what refugees are being forced to endure under our very noses, please read this book."

JJ Bola

"Home is the first thing we experience as human beings in this world; somewhere we know, safe and warm, somewhere that keeps us. When we are forced out, we lose a little bit of ourselves; leaving us less whole. However, through these poems, these stories, we reclaim that home and the humanity that is lost with what comes with being labelled a refugee. Writing this is not only a way for the world to know us, but a way that we may know ourselves, once again."

For more information, or to order this book, please visit https://www.press.uchicago.edu